Keeping Promises
by JillyV
Summary: Still trying to get adjust to her new school, Saya is having flashbacks. Will her friend Kaori help her through?


Disclaimers: Blood+ doesn't belong to me.

**Keeping Promises**

**Last period of the day: Mrs. Sato's class**

"Today we will be learning about the Vietnam War. I want everyone to turn to page 89 in their history books…" Mrs. Sato addressed the class as she sat at her desk, flipping the pages in her book.

"Aww man, why we gotta learn this stuff anyway?" Daichi asked aloud in class as he flipped through his book reluctantly.

"Because you need to learn about history. If we don't remember the past then we are doomed to repeat it. Just remember that, Daichi" Mrs. Sato eyed him as she continued on with her lecture.

Saya turned through the pages in her textbook. When she finally reached page 89, a picture on the lower left-hand corner of the page caught her attention. It was a picture of a small village in Vietnam under attack. In the picture, there was a figure that was hard to make out. As she closely examined it, there was something inhuman-like about the figure. Suddenly, Saya grabbed her head in pain as she had a flashback of a different time and place. A time long ago that she couldn't quite fully remember. In her mind she saw a small girl drenched in blood surrounded by monsters. Guns shooting. A katana blade wet with blood. A man dressed in a black medieval outfit carrying a cello case. War planes in the sky. Her hands with blood on them.

_Her hands…_

Saya softly cried out in pain by the excess of scattered memories floating in her mind.

"Arrgghh" Saya cried out as she put her head down on the desk wrapping her arms around her face, attempting to cover it. No one seems to notice Saya except for Kaori, who was sitting in the seat next to her. She quickly looked over at Saya and saw her friend with her head down.

"Saya, are you okay?" She said with concern as she reached out her hand to place it on Saya's shoulder.

Saya quickly knocked Kaori's hand away from her. Kaori was stunned by Saya's sudden rejection of her concern. Saya looked up at Kaori with tears streaming down her face. She quickly wiped the tears away with her left hand.

"Mrs. Sato, can I please go to the bathroom?" Saya interrupted the middle of Mrs. Sato's lecture.

"Here's a pass," Mrs. Sato said as she picked up the pass and held it out for Saya to take. Saya quickly got up from her seat, took the pass from her teacher's hand and left out of the room. All the while, leaving a shocked Kaori in wonder as to what was going on.

Saya headed straight into the bathroom. As she enters, she notices that Mao was in there with two other girls putting on their makeup.

_God I really don't need this today…_

She made her way to the bathroom sink trying to ignore Mao and her friends. Saya turned on the sink and the water rushed down from the faucet. She splashed water on her face and looked into the mirror at her own reflection. Her face was pale and it was fairly dark below her eyes. Her reflection didn't seem like her own.

"Well if it isn't the little freak. I know you and Kaori pulled that little trick at the mall a few weeks ago. I'm not stupid, you know?" Mao shouted at her, closing the space between herself and Saya. She was inches from the side Saya's face.

"I really don't want to go through this with you right now. I'm not really feeling well" Saya pleaded with her trying her best to avoid confrontation with Mao. She avoided her gaze and continued to look at herself in the mirror. Saya tried her best to remain calm but was having trouble keeping herself together.

"As if I care about how you're feeling. Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Mao spat as she pushed Saya from the sink. Mao's friends stated to crowd around Saya.

"Please… you don't understand…" Saya said as she went over to the mirror once again. Looking at it briefly, she noticed that her eyes were starting to glow. She looked down on the floor, quickly closing her eyes, not wanting the other girls to see them.

"It sucks that you're all alone in the bathroom. No Kaori to help you out this time" Mao said as she pushed Saya around some more. Her friends joined in as they pushed Saya too.

"Stop it…Stop it," Saya shouted. She had enough; she opened her eyes again and started to snarl at them. As Saya was being pushed from one girl to the other, she grabbed one of the girls around the shirt and pushed her against the wall with such force it caused the wall to crack. The girl slowly sunk to the floor wrenching in pain. The other girl ran up to hit Saya but Saya caught her hand in mid-air and knocked her straight into Mao. They both tumbled down to the floor together. All the girls looked totally stunned at Saya's sudden surge of strength.

"I told you she was a freak," Mao said aloud, looking up at Saya from the bathroom floor.

"Lets just get out of here" one of the girls said as she ran out of the bathroom. The others followed as they made weird looks at Saya. Saya shook her head and returned to the sink. Her eyes had already returned to their normal color and she had hoped they did before she had gotten into her fight with Mao and her friends.

_What is going on with me?_

**Back in the classroom**

Kaori had noticed that Saya was taking too long in the bathroom and she was starting to get worried. She needed a way to get out of class but since Saya was already using the bathroom pass, she had to think of another excuse.

"Mrs. Sato, I left my homework in my locker, can I please go get it?" Kaori said as she raised her hand up.

"Go ahead, Kaori" Mrs. Sato replied back, writing something down on the chalkboard.

Kaori got up from her desk and quickly left the room. As she was walking down the hall to the bathroom, she noticed Mao and her friends swiftly leaving out of it. Kaori thought the worst when she saw Mao running out of the bathroom. She stepped in to look for Saya. Kaori sees Saya slumped over the bathroom sink and she ran up to her.

"Are you alright? I saw Mao and her friends leaving out of here. Did they do anything? "

Kaori was apprehensive about touching Saya for fear that she might jerk away like she did in class but she thought the hell with it. Kaori placed a hand on Saya's back. Saya looked up from the sink and at Kaori.

"I'm fine, Kaori" Saya quietly replied back. "Do you ever feel that you are being someone that you are not?" Saya continued.

Kaori thought it was a strange question but then remember that Saya has amnesia so it might not have been all that strange at all.

"Umm honestly… no" Kaori replied back to her. Saya frowned and looked down into the sink.

"I just…I just feel like there is an inner self about me that is trying to come out" Saya said while looking down at the floor.

"I honestly can't tell you that I understand. I never had amnesia so I can't lie and act as if I know what you're going through. I'm sure it is hard though," Kaori said.

"I just think I was a totally different person before… before I got amnesia" Saya stated sadly.

"Maybe you were… What's wrong with that? All that matters is the here and now, Saya. And you're such a great person now." Kaori attempted to reassure her friend. Saya smiled gently at her but still was hesitant on believing Kaori.

"But what if…What if I was some horrible person before. You heard what Mrs. Sato said in class... If we don't try to remember our past, then we are doomed to repeat it" Saya emphasized.

"You're only a teenage girl, how bad could it have been?" Kaori said still attempting to console Saya.

"I guess you're right… I don't know I just have this really bad feeling…That's all" Saya said, looking into Kaori's eyes.

"Seriously Saya I can't see yourself being far from who you are right now"

"But what if I am? You don't even know me. I don't even know myself but you're so willing to trust me"

"You never have given me any reason not to and that's all that matters to me. You really need to give yourself more credit," Kaori said as she took Saya's hand and gave it a small squeeze.

Saya looks in the mirror at herself again thinking about Kaori's words. Her appearance had turned back to normal as if nothing had occurred but she knew something was going on with herself. Especially after seeing her eyes glow red the way that they did. Saya wouldn't tell her friend that part. Kaori was just so accepting with everything but she wasn't sure how accepting her friend would be with that.

"Kaori, could you promise me something?" Saya asked as she continued to look at herself in the mirror.

"Umm, sure" Kaori replied back unsure as to what she will be asked but still willing to help her friend.

"Promise me that if anything happens, no matter how bad it is, that you would still be here for me?" Saya requested as she looked back into Kaori's eyes.

"That's an easy promise. Of course I'll be here for you, Saya" Kaori smiled happily to her. Saya tried her best to smile back, trying to conceal that everything was okay.

"You always know how to make me feel better, Kaori" Saya said to her as she pulled her friend into a strong embrace.

"That's why you keep me around" Kaori said.

"Let's get back to class" Saya said, letting go of Kaori and heading for the door.

They walked out of the bathroom and back into their class. They returned to their seats and finished listening to Mrs. Sato's lecture on the Vietnam War. Kaori got out her notebook and started writing in it. She ripped out the page that she wrote in and folded the piece of paper into a square. She knew that she would get in trouble if caught but she decided to pass the note to Saya anyway. Saya picked up the note and read it to herself. It read: _You're great just the way you are. Don't ever change for anyone_. Saya smiled somewhat sadly as she finished reading the note that Kaori had given her. She looked over at Kaori who was smiling at her. Saya put on her best fake smile to pretend as if nothing was bothering her anymore. She really wished that she could fulfill the promise that was written on that piece of paper but deep down in her heart she knew she never could.


End file.
